Quality of Steel Used for Creating TMT Bars

The quality of steel used for creating TMT bars can greatly affect its quality. While refined steel is known
to produce excellent samples of TMT bars, unrefined steel or scrap steel can only produce finished
goods that have little resistance to critical conditions and offer poor performance.
Read on to find out more about steel qualities.
Why refined steel material is considered vital for your structure?
Refined steel that can give rise to an everlasting structure
Steel that is produced by crude procedures is not entirely free from various impurities that may reduce
its strength. In order to produce the desired chemistry, it is necessary to refine steel further. The goals
of this refining process are deoxidization or removal of oxygen, degassing or removal of hydrogen,
desulphurization or reduction of sulfur concentrations, micro-cleanliness or removal of the undesirable
elements, increasing strength and ductility and improving the microstructure (homogeneity) of the steel.
Why low sulfur, low phosphorous steel is ideal for TMT bars?
Lower amount of impurities makes better quality steel
Generally any rebar chemically contains Phosphorus (P) and Sulfur (S) in varying levels. If a piece of TMT
bar has excess Sulfur levels, it can lead to Hot Shortness, a condition where melting point of the steel
is lowered, thereby leading to failure in case of extreme high temperature situations. On the other hand,
excess quantities of phosphorus can give rise to Cold Shortness. This causes the steel to become brittle
under extreme cold conditions which causes the bars to crack. Hence it is always better to lower the
contents of these minerals to make the quality of the steel better.

Why the steel that is produced through the iron ore route performs better and is consider
superior to the steel that is produced through the scrap route?
Prime raw material guarantees premium product
The steel that is produced through scrap route commonly possesses uncertain mechanical and chemical
properties due to the presence of tramp elements which naturally gives it its inconsistent quality. On the
other hand, steel that is produced through the pure iron ore route guarantees high cleanliness as well as
homogeneous quality. It is for this reason that Fe 500D TMT Bars are highly preferred in the
construction industry.
Steel that is produced through scrap route is not suited for critical structures.
Rebar once implemented cannot be replaced
Steel materials are evaluated and specified from a functional aspect mainly over two dimensions,
mechanical properties and chemical properties. On the other hand, steel that is produced through scrap
route does not have any precise control on the chemical properties such as sulfur and phosphorus
contents, amounts of tramp elements, gas contents and inclusions as well as mechanical properties like
strength, ductility and bend ability.
Why ET-LPS is considered better than the others?
Better process for superior quality steel
In order to meet the strict sulfur and phosphorus requirements of steel, a unique, innovative and
patented metallurgical process known as ERF-ELdFOSTM is used for dephosphorizing the steel in ladle
and desulphurizing the steel in the ELECTROTHERM LADLE REFINING FURNACE. The unique process
allows the experts to homogenize steel, control the alloying elements and make sure that they are
maintained within a highly narrow range, use mild purging of the inert gases to trigger dilution of the
dissolved gases and chemically alter or remove inclusions to guarantee high quality steel materials.
It is for this reason that 500 D LPS TMT Bars are considered better than others.
Why low sulfur, low phosphorus and low carbon steel is better suited for seismic zones?
Building bones of firm structures
Apart from the load of beams, columns, building-slabs as well as the live load of people and their
luggage or belongings, the TMT bars also need to withstand various natural calamities like storms, winds
and earthquakes. Steel with low levels of phosphorus has the benefits of increased ductility, while steel
with lower carbon indicates high ductility and weldability. LPS STEEL with high UTS/YS ratio as well as
percentage elongation indicates the ability to successfully withstand the seriously devastating effects of
an earthquake. Hence the higher are these values; the superior is the quality of the steel. The Fe 500 D
TMT steel bars have got higher values of UTS/YS ratio as well as percentage elongation, which makes
them suitable for earthquake prone areas.

How to achieve the combination of high ductility and high strength in TMT bars?
Unmatched process for the unmatched steel
Thermo-mechanical treatment is carried out by 500 D LPS TMT bars manufacturers in the following
three stages to achieve high ductility and high strength:
Quenching: A specially made water spray system is used to rapidly quench a hot rolled bar that is just
taken out of the final mill stand. This allows the surface of a bar to harden and achieve a depth that is
optimized for each and every section through the formation of the martensitic rim as the core continues
to remain hot and austenitic.
Self Tempering: When a bar is taken out of the quenching box, its core retains much of the heat
compared to its surface. This allows the heat to smoothly flow from core to its surface, thereby causing
tempering of outer martensitic layer to develop a structure known as Tempered Martensite. Its core
still continues to remain austenitic during this point.
Atmospheric Cooling: It takes place on a cooling bed where austenitic core is completely transformed
into a ferrite-pearlite structure with ductile features. Hence the final structure is comprised of a strong
and robust outer layer (i.e. Tempered Martensite) and a Ferrite-Pearlite ductile core.
In this way a combination of High Strength and High Ductility is achieved in TMT bars.
Why the process of grain refinement is necessary in steel?
Refining grains for well defined properties
Grain size can have a significant impact on majority of mechanical properties. Tensile strength, yield
strength, impact strength and fatigue strength all increase with the decrease in the grain size. Therefore
fine grain size gives rise to better mechanical properties for steel components. Special treatment along
with controlled cooling is carried out to attain fine grained steel.

Why the primary steel producers can provide with better quality than the secondary steel
producers?
Primary producer, prime quality deliverer
It is only possible to produce desired quality steel if the raw materials that are used for it is of the
desired quality. Generally, the secondary steel producers depend on suppliers for getting scrap or DRI.
These producers do not have the infrastructure required for reducing the phosphorus content as well as
the tramp elements that are present in scrap components. Hence the steel that is produced from them
may have tramps that are detrimental to the required properties. The Primary Steel Producers on the
other hand make use of virgin iron ore for the blast furnace as well as for producing DRI that is used as a
raw material for developing steel. The amounts of phosphorus is regulated and controlled with a
patented process so that only optimum quantities are used. Not using scrap also eliminates the
possibility of any tramp elements existing within the steel products. Hence the steel that is produced is
primary.
How to obtain killed and clean steel?
Unconventional treatment giving rise to unrivaled steel
Liquid steel should be treated with calcium to attain deoxidation and desulphurization to extremely low
levels. Other features that can be achieved by this process with the final product include greater fluidity,
improved cleanliness, simplified continuous casting, ductility, machinability, and better impact strength.
Calcium treatment also helps to remove Al2O3 and SiO2 from the liquid steel metal. During the calcium
treatment, the silica and alumina inclusions are chemically converted into molten calcium aluminates as
well as silicates that come in globular shapes due to the effect of surface tension. Calcium aluminate
inclusions which are retained in the liquid steel help to suppress formation of the MnS stringers during
the solidification of the steel components.